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Topic: What's a Fetish? (Read 1390 times)

Fetishes Gaia’s Chosen may use the Rite of the Fetish (see below) to bind spirits into appropriately crafted and consecrated vessels. Such wondrous items are known as fetishes. The owner of a fetish can call upon the spirit within to perform specific tasks, depending on the nature of the vessel and the spirit. Given the multitude of spirits within the Tellurian and the ingenuity of the Garou, fetishes of almost any type imaginable may be created. Werewolves hold great reverence toward fetishes, treating them as honored allies rather than mere tools. Such is the nature of the pact that binds spirits into fetishes; they are obligated to serve the Garou only as long as they are respected in return. It is possible to bind a spirit against its will, but these fetishes tend to be rebellious, and most Garou consider them cursed.

Of course, the servants of the Wyrm bind Banes into horrifying fetishes of their own… The majority of fetishes are crafted from natural materials (wood, hide, bone, clay), although this is more a preference of most spirits than a hard rule — Glass Walkers, in particular, tend to bind spirits that prefer more modern, technological housing. Few fetishes are nondescript; Garou adorn them with carved river stones, feathers, beads, and other markings to honor and appease the spirit within.

To use a fetish, the Garou must first attune herself to it by making a Gnosis roll. The difficulty for this roll is the fetish’s Gnosis rating. Attunement establishes a spiritual bond between fetish and user, enabling the Garou to take the fetish anywhere in the Tellurian and providing instinctive understanding of the fetish’s powers. Only a single success is required to attune to the fetish; failure indicates that the fetish has rejected the character. Another roll may not be attempted until the werewolf has somehow reached accord with the resident spirit. Attunement also effectively “dedicates” a fetish to its wielder, as though the Rite of Talisman Dedication had been performed on it.

Since fetishes have their own Gnosis, an attuned fetish doesn’t count against the maximum number of objects a werewolf can have dedicated to him. Each time the wielder wishes to use one of the fetish’s powers, the player must make a Gnosis roll (difficulty equal to the fetish’s Gnosis rating) to “activate” the power. Alternatively, she may simply spend a Gnosis point to activate the power automatically. Rage may not be spent during the same turn in which a fetish is activated.

This rite allows a werewolf to create a fetish (an object with a spirit bound into it). To do so, the Garou must first cleanse the potential fetish by placing it under running water (sufficiently drinkable flowing tap water counts), burying it in pure earth, exposing the object to constant breezes, or suspending it above flame for three consecutive nights. The Garou must then force or persuade a spirit to enter the prepared object. The Fianna claim that cajoling or flattering a spirit produces the best results, while the Bone Gnawers and Silent Striders claim that bribery (expending Gnosis) works best.

System: The ritemaster rolls Wits + Rituals (difficulty 10). Each point of permanent Gnosis that the character spends during the rite reduces the difficulty by two. The difficulty can also be lowered by roleplaying, if the ritemaster does a good job persuading the spirit to enter the fetish (by providing chiminage, undergoing a quest to prove her sincerity or worthiness, flattery, etc). If the Garou attempts to force a spirit into the fetish, she must first attack the spirit and reduce it to zero Essence before attempting to bind it into the fetish.

What if you fail the Rite of the Fetish roll? Would you need to find another spirit or you would need to simply force it?

Failure indicates you've to find another spirit.

Botch will completely disfigure the said object and no spirit will ever agree on residing in it.

Remember, forcing spirits isn't something you should trifle with. Rebellious fetishes can be really troublesome, a fetish is supposed to be the Garou's friend afterall, they serve a great purpose -- it's not a tool, if it is then it loses it's mystical aura and becomes just like an ordinary wrench or broom. I am yet to update this guide in order to thoroughly explain the Rite of the Fetish, been quite busy lately.

What if you fail the Rite of the Fetish roll? Would you need to find another spirit or you would need to simply force it?

Failure indicates you've to find another spirit.

Botch will completely disfigure the said object and no spirit will ever agree on residing in it.

Remember, forcing spirits isn't something you should trifle with. Rebellious fetishes can be really troublesome, a fetish is supposed to be the Garou's friend afterall, they serve a great purpose -- it's not a tool, if it is then it loses it's mystical aura and becomes just like an ordinary wrench or broom. I am yet to update this guide in order to thoroughly explain the Rite of the Fetish, been quite busy lately.

I think I've read somewhere (can't really remember now) that failing to bind a spirit to the object could turn them into aggressive versions of themselves. Is this dependant on the type of spirit, level of the fetish we're after or simply not true?

What if you fail the Rite of the Fetish roll? Would you need to find another spirit or you would need to simply force it?

Failure indicates you've to find another spirit.

Botch will completely disfigure the said object and no spirit will ever agree on residing in it.

Remember, forcing spirits isn't something you should trifle with. Rebellious fetishes can be really troublesome, a fetish is supposed to be the Garou's friend afterall, they serve a great purpose -- it's not a tool, if it is then it loses it's mystical aura and becomes just like an ordinary wrench or broom. I am yet to update this guide in order to thoroughly explain the Rite of the Fetish, been quite busy lately.

I think I've read somewhere (can't really remember now) that failing to bind a spirit to the object could turn them into aggressive versions of themselves. Is this dependant on the type of spirit, level of the fetish we're after or simply not true?

The side-effects are storyteller's dependent, the storyteller should feel free to use his own creativity when portraying such matters and yes, of course a spirit with Rage 8 will not respond same as a calm spirit with merely Rage 2 or 3 -- the moral is that the spirit won't agree on being bound.